Israel, Syria talks clear first hurdle
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 — Clearing a first hurdle towards lasting peace in West Asia, Israel and Syria have agreed to a fresh round of talks in the USA on January 3.

Court given evidence in Sharif case
KARACHI, Dec 17 — Pakistani prosecutors today handed over to an anti-terrorism court transcripts of audio recordings and a witness confession in the treason case against ousted Premier Nawaz Sharif.

Panja to lead team for Macau handover
BEIJING, Dec 17 — The Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Ajit Kumar Panja, would lead an official Indian delegation to the historic handover of the Portuguese enclave Macao to China on the midnight of December 19, official sources said today.

Annan’s apology for not averting genocide

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 (PTI) — In a strongly worded indictment, an international inquiry panel has held the entire United Nations system, including the secretariat, Security Council and member-states, responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in which more than 800,000 people were massacred.

The report, commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was particularly harsh on the Security Council, especially the USA whose then ambassador Madeleine Albright sought to play down the possibility of large-scale killings despite reports that they appeared imminent.

“This international responsibility is one which warrants a clear apology by the organisation and by member-states concerned to the Rwandese people,” it said.

Within hours of the release of the report yesterday, Mr Annan expressed “deep remorse” over UN failure and reiterated his strong commitment to making sure the world body never again falters in stopping mass slaughter.

“Of all my aims as Secretary-General, there is none to which I feel more deeply committed than that of enabling the UN never again to fall in protecting a civilian population from genocide or mass slaughter,” he said in a statement adding, “all of us must bitterly regret that we did not do more to prevent it.”

The report showed a UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda was doomed from the start by an insufficient mandate and later destroyed by the Security Council’s refusal to strengthen it once the killings began.

“There is a serious gap between the mandate and the political realities of Rwanda and between the mandate and the resources dedicated to it”. Mr Ingvar Carlsson, former Swedish Prime Minister, who heads the panel, said at a press conference at the UN headquarters, referring to the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda.

The panel revealed warnings and signs of massacres plans being ignored, lack of adequate resources to the mission and field reports sent by Gen Romeo A Dallaire of Canada of possibility of genocide and accumulation of arms not being taken seriously.

“Information received by the United Nations that plans are being made to exterminate any group of people requires immediate and determined response,” Mr Carlsson commented.

The events including the UN reducing peacekeeping force to a few hundred from 2,500 when the genocide began and then increasing it to 5,500 after it was almost over would always be difficult to explain, he said.

In a statement released by the Security Council yesterday, Mr Annan welcomed the inquiry’s emphasis on lessons to be learnt both from the tragedy and the recommendations.

“These recommendations merit very serious attention, leading to prompt and effective action — by the Secretariat, the Security Council and the international community as a whole,” he stated.

While the report acknowledged that some steps have already been taken over the past few years to improve UN’s capacity to respond to conflicts, and specifically to respond to some of the mistakes made in Rwanda, much remained to be done, the Secretary General said.

Chechens bottled up; no pause in firing

GROZNY (Russia), Dec 17 (Reuters) — Russian warplanes have heavily bombed and shelled the Chechen capital over the past 24 hours, Reuters correspondent Maria Eismont reported today.

“All day yesterday they were bombing the area where the fighting had taken place,’’ Eismont said, referring to the scene of Wednesday’s clash between rebels and Russian troops near the city centre. “Today so far there have been no planes, just artillery fire.’’

She said thousands of civilians remained in the city trapped in cellars and said most of them were ethnic Russians or the elderly. Rebel fighters and residents had told her there had been fighting near the scene of Wednesday’s clashes in the east of the city and in several other districts as well, making it impossible for civilians to leave.

“In the cellars there are large numbers of people. They crawl out when there is a pause in the shelling and wander the streets like ghosts in search of some kind of food. They were eating pigeons, nine people living in a cellar, sharing it and eating.’’

The Reuters correspondent, one of a small number of correspondents reporting from the Chechen capital for foreign news organisations, yesterday said that rebels had killed more than 100 Russian soldiers during the night.

She reported that she had seen the bodies of the Russian soldiers lying dead in Grozny after Chechen guerrillas surrounded and destroyed their column of 15 tanks and armoured personnel carriers. The vehicles were burnt out.

Moscow denied it with fury, but gave out nothing fresh about the progress of the conflict.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, speaking on Russian TV, said, “this is total nonsense, provocation aimed at discrediting the Russian military, total disinformation.’’

Mr Alexander Zdanovich, spokesman for the FSB security agency accused some foreign news organisations — including Reuters — of being in the pay of foreign intelligence services.

This Chechen war, unlike the last one, has so far gone down well with Russian public opinion. With parliamentary elections taking place on Sunday, it has also boosted the ratings of Prime Minister Putin and his allies in the new unity bloc.

The unity leader, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, said yesterday Moscow would see the Chechnya conflict through to the end and hold no talks with the rebels, directly or through western mediators.

Window on Pakistan
Press in a feudal society

Even when there is a military government in Pakistan, the Press is not in chains. There is no overt or covert pressure on it to dance to the tunes of the regime. A surprising scenario, indeed!

Mr Najam Sethi of The Friday Times, a prominent and highly respected editor, has admitted this in an interview with The Voice of America. The situation today is in sharp contrast to the one that prevailed before October 12 when there was a democratically elected government. The inference is that an elected government did not show a tolerant attitude whereas an authoritarian regime without a constitutional sanction behaves in an opposite manner. What a paradox!

Nobody is, however, sure for how long the Musharraf government will allow the Press to breathe freely. Newspaper reports and comments indicate that the next target of the military ruler will be the Press. For the time being it has been left to function with reasonable freedom because so far newspaper criticism has been mostly aimed at exposing the previous dispensation. There are reports that the current phase may end any time now. After a thorough exposure of the Nawaz Sharif government the army regime no longer needs a free Press. Hence the possibility of curbs. This is how Gen Zia-ul-Haq behaved. This may be how Gen Parvez Musharraf is planning to implement his agenda.

The current military ruler has another reason to strike at the Press at an appropriate time. The General Musharraf-led army was taken to task by a section of Pakistani journalists and commentators for its ill-advised Kargil operation. A Jang report says that the present government has a ready list of these rationalists to be punished for “conspiracies against the armed forces”. There is no way for them to escape the wrath of the military ruler, though today they are very guarded in expressing their viewpoint.

A psycho-analysis of the kind of behaviour under discussion shows that this is because of the feudal character of Pakistani society. Feudal lords tolerate free speech and expression so long as it promotes their interests. As the situation undergoes a change, they come out in their true colours.

As Arif Nizami, Editor of The Nation and President of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, says, “.... generally speaking, political parties, especially those in power, don’t have a deep enough understanding of the role of a free Press in a democracy. The result is that criticism is not tolerated....

“One can also blame the Press; some publishers and editors have veered too close to the government with the result that, because we live in a feudal society, the government begins to expect too much from the Press. The government does not believe that there is a role for the Opposition, and then complains about irresponsible newspapers. My reply is: yes, there are some irresponsible newspapers and there should be a code of ethics.”

These views of Nizami were obtained by a reporter of the Dawn group’s periodical, Aurora, when Mr Nawaz Sharif was the Prime Minister and had started harassing different newspapers on one pretext or the other. And the Press was prepared to fight to protect its rights with all its might.

Nizami was forthright in expressing his thoughts when provoked to speak out with regard to the government’s action against the Jang group. He said: “.... I don’t think the present scenario is a very good environment for a free Press in Pakistan. The levers of government advertising are used against the Press, and if that doesn’t work, the tax or the Custom people take over. But the Press in Pakistan is, by and large, very resilient. It’s not easy to roll back the freedom that has been achieved....”

He was right then, when there was a semblance of democracy in Pakistan. That is the advantage of a democratic system of governance. One can wage a battle for a cause, even though a losing one. But now when the democratic process remains suspended the Press can enjoy its rights only at the pleasure of the Chief Executive.

The international community expected the Press never to approve of the disruption of the democratic process and launch a jehad against it. But the Press has failed in its duty. It must be ready to accept the wages of its failings.

— Syed Nooruzzaman

UN council ‘crossing limit’ on human crises

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17 —(PTI) India has strongly criticised the Security Council for trying to go beyond its mandate in dealing with humanitarian crisis and has urged developing nations to show political will to forge a consensus on expanding its membership to make it conform to democratic norms.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly session on expansion of the Security Council yesterday, New Delhi’s Ambassador, Kamalesh Sharma, made a strong case for India’s permanent membership, asserting that it is qualified on any objective criteria.

Warning the council against going beyond its mandate in the United Nations charter, Sharma said, “a Security Council, which is unrepresentative and undemocratic, can neither preserve international peace and security nor legitimately speak on behalf of the general membership.”

The council should certainly not try to stretch the limits of what is politically acceptable to the member states, he told the 188-member Assembly.

Sharma, who made one of the most virulent attacks on the working methods of the council, said while on the one hand it had evaded its role or let it be usurped, on the other there were calls for greater activism on its part to effectively tackle the humanitarian crisis.

“We have serious reservations over the council addressing issues beyond its competence. Unless a humanitarian crisis clearly poses a threat to international peace and security, the council has no role in attempts to resolve it,” he bluntly told the members as representatives of the permanent council members watched.

Firmly rejecting any piecemeal approach to expansion and reform of the council, Sharma stressed the need to adopt a comprehensive package which includes an expansion of its membership, improvement in its working methods, and changes in the process of decision-making.

Israel, Syria talks clear first hurdle

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (PTI) — Clearing a first hurdle towards lasting peace in West Asia, Israel and Syria have agreed to a fresh round of talks in the USA on January 3.

“We are witnessing a new beginning in the effort to achieve a comprehensive peace in the middle east,” US President Bill Clinton, who brokered the two-day crucial meeting which ended last night, said in a brief statement.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara had agreed to resume their negotiations on an “intensive basis” next month.

A visibly buoyed Clinton said, “With Israeli-Lebanese negotiations expected to begin soon, and the Palestinian track well under way we can clearly set our sights on a new and different Middle East”.

At the end of the talks the Israeli and Syrian leaders flanked Mr Clinton during an appearance before the media and left it to the President to make a brief announcement about the next round in the US capital.

Mr Clinton pointed out that soon he expected to see the Palestinian track too to be well under way. 

With Mr Barak and Mr Shara flanking him, Mr Clinton said the two leaders “agreed to make every effort to reach peace between Israel and Syria as part of a just, lasting and comprehensive Middle East peace, based on United Nations resolutions 242 and 338, and the Madrid terms of reference”.

“To that end, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister agreed to return to Washington to continue their negotiations on an intensive basis beginning January 3, 2000 —about two weeks from now”, the President said.

“They have requested the United States to participate in these negotiations and we are honoured to do so. They agreed to take steps to ensure that these negotiations will be conducted in a productive and positive atmosphere,” he added.

The journey, he emphasised, would be tough. “Nothing in the past 48 hours should lead us to believe otherwise. But the parties are embarked on this path. They have agreed that there should be no looking back, for the sake of our generation and generations to come”, he added.

The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, said at a press briefing the talks between Israel and Syria were likely to be not in the heart of Washington but “in an isolated place near Washington. “We want to make sure,” she said, “that it is a place where all the issues will be discussed.”

Court given evidence in Sharif case

KARACHI, Dec 17 (AFP) — Pakistani prosecutors today handed over to an anti-terrorism court transcripts of audio recordings and a witness confession in the treason case against ousted Premier Nawaz Sharif.

Judge Shabbir Ahmed ordered that the court should hold onto the evidence, which includes the testimony of Mr Aminullah Chaudhary, a former head of the civil aviation authority, who was accused but will now give evidence against Mr Sharif.

He then adjourned the hearing until Monday after the defence said some of their senior lawyers were not available.

“Now we have provided the transcripts of important evidence in the case to the court. But the defence counsels are adopting delaying tactics,” said public prosecutor Raja Qureshi.

In the last hearing on Monday the court delayed bringing formal charges against Mr Sharif because of disputes over the evidence.

Panja to lead team for Macau handover

BEIJING, Dec 17 (PTI) — The Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Ajit Kumar Panja, would lead an official Indian delegation to the historic handover of the Portuguese enclave Macao to China on the midnight of December 19, official sources said today.

The Indian delegation to the handover ceremony, establishment of the Macao special administrative region (SAR) government and other events, would also include India’s Ambassador to China, Mr V. K. Nambiar, and India’s Consul-General in Hong Kong, Ms Veena Sikri.

The Indian delegation has been invited jointly by the Chinese and Portuguese Governments to the ceremonies attended by Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji and other state leaders.

“Topsy-Turvy ” awarded
NEW YORK: “Topsy-Turvy,”-British director, Mike Leigh’s epic film about the 19th-century Victorian composers Gilbert and Sullivan, was namd the year’s best film by the New York Film Critic Circle, while Leigh was also adjugded best director. The best actress aware went to Hilary Swank for her portrayal of a young woman named Teena Brandon living life in rural Nebraska as a young man named Brandon Teena in “Boys Don’t cry.” — Reuters

Draconian sentence
ANKARA: A court in Izmir sentenced one adult and two minors to more than 20 years’ imprisonment each for robbing two persons of two T-shirts and 400,000 Liras (about 80 cents) in cash. Anter B. (16) was sentenced on Thursday to 33 years and four months’ imprisonment and Ayahan Olcay (20) and Serkan A. (17) were sentenced to 22 years, two months and 20 days each for their role in the mugging.